Month: August 2020

Amendment of the Polish Act on the posting of workers is going to come into force on 4 September 2020 (14 days after publication in the Journal of Laws).

This means that from 4 September, 2020, foreign employers posting employees to Poland will have to comply with new obligations – in particular to ensure to the posted workers to a larger extent the employment terms regulated by Polish law, and to notify the Polish Labour Inspectorate (PIP) about changes concerning all circumstances regarding the posting within 7 days.

The new obligations are going to apply not only to postings starting after 4 September, 2020, but also to postings already in progress on 4 September, 2020.

To learn more about the new posting rules – see here.

The authorities treat subsidies from a district executive (Starosta) and a District Employment Office in the same way. Therefore, obtaining support for the same employees, even from a different source and for a different period, is not allowed – Paweł Sych, attorney-at-law, comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Article: https://biznes.gazetaprawna.pl/artykuly/1488336,tarcza-antykryzysowa-dofinansowania-z-kilku-zrodel.html

Starting from August 12, 2020 Poland has opened its borders for direct flights from most countries worldwide. Direct flights to Poland remain banned only in case of 44 countries. China, Russia, Brazil and United States are among the banned countries. Full list of the 44 banned countries can be found here: [link].

Passengers of direct flights to Poland are exempt from obligatory post-entry quarantine in Poland (except travellers of direct flights from Belarus and Ukraine – post-entry quarantine obligation has been restored for these flights as of 15 August 2020).

Restrictions on categories of foreigners eligible to enter Poland remain applicable in case of incoming travels from outside of the Schengen zone (subject to numerous exceptions).

A new category of foreigners eligible to enter Poland has been added as of 13 August, 2020 – citizens and legal residents of 8 specifically listed countries (including e.g. Canada and Japan) are eligible to enter Poland by plane on regular pre-Covid-19 terms regardless of purpose of visit and country of origin of the flight. Full list of the 8 eligible countries and more information can be found here: [link].

Starting from August 12, 2020 Poland has opened its borders for direct flights from most countries worldwide. Direct flights to Poland remain banned only in case of 44 countries. Full list of the 44 banned countries is presented below:

1) Bosnia and Herzegovina;

2) China;

3) Montenegro;

4) São Tomé and Príncipe;

5) Russia;

6) Brazil;

7) Andorra;

8) Saudi Arabia;

9) Bahrain;

10) Eswatini (formerly Swaziland);

11) Mexico;

12) Israel;

13) Qatar;

14) Kuwait;

15) Argentina;

16) Armenia;

17) Chile;

18) Dominican Republic;

19) Ecuador;

20) Gabon;

21) Guatemala;

22) Honduras;

23) Iraq;

24) Kazakhstan;

25) Kyrgyzstan;

26) Colombia;

27) Kosovo;

28) Costa Rica;

29) North Macedonia;

30) Maldives;

31) Moldova;

32) Panama;

33) Peru;

34) Republic of South Africa (RSA);

35) El Salvador;

36) Serbia;

37) Singapore;

38) Suriname;

39) Cape Verde;

40) United States of America;

41) Oman;

42) Luxembourg;

43) Bolivia;

44) Bahamas.

 

Passengers of direct flights to Poland are exempt from obligatory post-entry quarantine in Poland (except travellers of direct flights from Belarus and Ukraine – post-entry quarantine obligation has been restored for these flights as of 15 August 2020).

Restrictions on categories of foreigners eligible to enter Poland remain applicable in case of incoming travels from outside of the Schengen zone (subject to numerous exceptions).

A new category of foreigners eligible to enter Poland has been added as of 13 August, 2020 – citizens and legal residents of 8 specifically listed countries are eligible to enter Poland by plane on regular pre-Covid-19 terms regardless of purpose of visit and country of origin of the flight. Full list of the 8 eligible countries is presented below:

1) Georgia

2) Japan

3) Canada

4) New Zealand

5) Thailand

6) South Korea

7) Tunisia

8) Australia

Polish authorities have not defined who will be considered as legal resident of the above countries. The Border Guard may in particular need to review visas or residence permits issued by one of these countries to decide whether to allow entry to Poland.

In case of foreigners that are allowed to stay visa-free in the eligible countries, the foreigner will have to prove their right to stay to the Border Guard to qualify to enter Poland. At the moment there is no further information how authorities will approach such cases.

Companies which employ at least 250 people can apply for support under the Polish Development Fund Financial Shield program since 9 June. So far, just a bit over 10% of 3.6K eligible entities showed any interest. For the time being, 200 companies have submitted a complete application and just as many are at the application stage. The number of applicants for support is not expected to change dramatically in the following months. As we are informed by law firms who help companies in the process of applying for money under the shield, large players are dropping out. – Michał Bodziony comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Article: here.

As of August 15, 2020, passengers of direct flights from Ukraine and Belarus to Poland are once again obligated to undergo obligatory 14-day quarantine after entry to Poland.

Passengers of direct flights from Ukraine and Belarus to Poland were exempt from obligatory quarantine for a short period from August 8, 2020 till August 14, 2020. Persons who already entered Poland quarantine-free during this period do not have to self-isolate.

As of August 8, 2020, passengers of any direct flights to Poland (including e.g. flights from UK, Ukraine, and Belarus) became exempt from obligatory quarantine post-entry to Poland.

Despite the lifting of quarantine requirement, restrictions on categories of foreigners eligible to enter Poland remain applicable in case of flights from most non-Schengen area countries, in particular from UK, Ukraine and Belarus.

List of countries from which direct flights to Poland are allowed is expected to be extended by end of 11 August, 2020.

Not only you have to pay 50 percent receivables for a given period, but you will also not receive a subsidy for the next year. This is the interpretation of provincial labor offices and the labor ministry. According to lawyers – wrong. Paweł Sych, attorney-at-law comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. 

Article is available here.

Due to the announcement of an epidemic in Poland, the number of people who have been referred to quarantine is rapidly increasing. This concerns, in particular, people returning from abroad and those who had contact with a person infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The quarantine obligation may be caused by different circumstances and based on different legal bases. In the light of the applicable rules, all persons in quarantine may be treated as unable to work and may apply for sickness benefit. – Piotr Kozłowski is a guest of the “Pytanie na śniadanie”.

Employers concluding a non-competition agreement would like to have a guarantee that the former employee will not be employed by a competitor, but on the other hand, they do not necessarily want to pay for such a guarantee. It happens that after the conclusion of the contract, employers try to avoid paying compensation to the former employee when they find out that the risk of violating their interests was not real – Karolina Kanclerz, attorney-at-law comments for Personel Plus.

Article is available here.